his is the first edition of music and the
facsimile of this work, BWV 1127, the aria “Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn’ ihn”,
which is not among the previously known works of J. S. Bach. It was discovered
by Michael Maul in May 2005 in the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, which was
only eight months after the tragic fire there that destroyed the bulk of the
music collection that housed precious materials for Bach research.

This aria is apparently composed on the
occasion of Bach’s employer, Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-Weimar’s 53rd
birthday. As few details is known about Bach’s life in Weimar, this is a very
significant find in several ways: as a piece of historical artefact, it shows
much about the context of the composition and the manner in which Bach took his
part in preparing this ceremonious work. The facsimile reveals a lot about this.
From the musical side, one would learn much about Bach’s approach to the genre
of strophic aria, which is unique among Bach’s vocal works. It certainly offers
to scholars further opportunities for scrutiny.

This edition is clean, and well laid out in 4
pages. It has the editor’s preface in both German and English in which he
explains the background of the piece and a few points on the performance in two
pages, which is adequate. While Bach wrote out the first verse only in his
score, Maul also provides verses 10 and 12 in his edition, which he recommends
on the ground of the contrast of characters. In the facsimile, Maul discusses
his spectacular find as well as the background of this composition in greater
depth. The interested reader is recommended to refer to his extended article “'Alles
mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn' -- Eine neu aufgefundene Aria von Johann Sebastian
Bach” published in Bach-Jahrbuch, vol. 91 (2005), pp. 7-34.

clean and well laid out

The quality of the facsimile reproduction is
excellent. With colour, it is so much easier to distinguish the notes from the
stains. With the naked eyes one can hardly see the dots that make up the colour
print. Only when it is magnified (see the image below, which is scanned at 600
dpi), you will see how it is made.

excellent reproduction

It is worth adding that the facsimile
edition comes with the première recording by Sir John
Eliot Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists, with Elin
Manahan Thomas (soprano). This is a very charming
performance, lasting for about 12 minutes.